What Did Gov. Snyder Know and When Did He Know It?

During the Watergate hearings on President Richard Nixon, Senator Howard Baker asked the oft-quoted question of what did Nixon know and when did he know it. Much the same question could be asked of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder about the contamination of the water in Flint, Michigan. A trove of released emails has helped establish that there were a number of early warnings which the Snyder administration either didn't acknowledge nor take any action.

The liberal group Progress Michigan released emails showing high-ranking state officials knew about an increase in Legionnaires disease in Gennesee County -- where Flint is located -- possibly linked to contaminated water about a year before Snyder said he knew about the outbreak.

Mother Jones reported that Michigan officials were trucking clean water to a state building in Flint in January 2015, long before they acknowledged to residents that the city had a water contamination problem.

Governor's Snyder's then-chief of staff, Dennis Muchmore, acknowledged the administration's deplorable response in a July 2015 email, writing; "These folks are scared and worried about the health impacts and they are basically getting blown off by us (as a state we're just not sympathizing with their plight.)."

Despite these earlier warnings of a serious problem in Flint, coupled with other emails being exchanged in the high levels of state government about  water contamination in Flint, Gov. Snyder denied knowing about  elevated lead levels in Flint children until October 2015, when the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that Dr. Hanna-Attisha had found high levels of lead in Flint children.

Gov. Snyder used his January 2016 State of the State address to announce that he was seeking $28 million in state funds -- more recently announced as $30 million -- for Flint while offering a belated apology. "Government failed you." Snyder said. "I am sorry, and I will fix it." Snyder has blamed all levels of government for the contamination of Flint's water; however, since 2011, Flint has been run by a series of unelected emergency managers appointed by Snyder. These managers have complete power to supersede any actions taken by local elected officials. It was emergency manager Ed Kurtz who signed the contract to set in motion using the Flint River as the primary source for municipal water.

Activist and film maker, Michael Moore, has said of his home city: "In order to save a few million dollars, the manager and the governor's office came up with the bright idea to unhook the city water supply from Lake Huron and tap into the Flint River." "And when the governor found out, he kept quiet and let the poor of Flint continue drinking the poison."